Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - The Marist women's tennis team will face #10 Southern California in the first round of the NCAA Tennis Tournament on Saturday, May 10th it was announced Tuesday during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNews. The Red Foxes were one of 31 teams to receive an automatic berth into the tournament. They cruised by Fairfield 7-0 in the MAAC Championship match to secure their second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
Marist rolled through the MAAC with a flawless 6-0 regular season record (10-8 overall), and the Red Foxes were never threatened in the tournament. They have won nine of their last ten dual-matches.
Seniors Erin Godly (Verona, Ky.) and Christine Ong (Tarzana, Calif.) were named the Most Outstanding Performers of the MAAC Tournament and have been solid all season at the front of the Marist singles rotation. Since returning to the lineup, Godly has won seven of her eight singles matches, and Ong has been in the number one singles spot the entire season.
Cassie Strange (Valencia, Calif.) and Alexa Strange (Valencia, Calif.) have been solid in the middle of the Red Foxes' rotation, and Mirelva Colon (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) and Emily Zampello (Kingwood, Texas) have anchored the back.
USC is ranked tenth in the nation and was 17-7 during the regular season. They were 5-3 in the Pac-10 and lost to UCLA in the tournament final.
There are 64 total teams that are split into 16 different sites, with the site hosts being the top 16 seeds in the tournament. UNLV and Pepperdine will square off in the other first round matchup. The winners of the two first round matches will face each other in the second round for the right to head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play in the Sweet 16.
The time for next Saturday's match has yet to be determined.